The hook
The prettiest beach in Malibu is a small cove of sea stacks, arches, and caves you reach down a cliff, with barely room to park.
01Why it's worth it
El Matador is the one photographers set alarms for. A steep path and staircases drop you down the bluff to a narrow strand studded with tall sea stacks, the rock rising straight out of the surf and worn into arches and caves you can walk through at the right tide. At low tide the pools at the base fill with anemones and small starfish and crabs, and near sunset the light comes sideways through the arches and turns the whole cove gold. It's a state beach but a small and awkward one, which keeps it from ever feeling like the wide public beaches down the coast. The catch is the parking: a lot with maybe twenty-five spaces that's full most of every weekend.
02How to experience it
It's on Pacific Coast Highway north of Malibu proper, about six hours from the Bay. Small paid lot up top, then a steep trail and stairs down, so it's not for anyone with mobility trouble, and there's nothing on the sand but the sand. Go at low tide for the caves and pools and near sunset for the light, and arrive early if you want to park at all.